Seven Days Prior
by Flipfloppey
Summary: Murder, mystery, intrigue, and they lead Kenny and Max on an adventure of a lifetime.
1. Day 1

Seven Days Prior

Present

"I'm sorry, okay! I'm not perfect! I make mistakes!"

"No shit. I don't know how you get yourself into these situations all of the time."

"What the hell are you talking about? I don't recall ever being in this type of thing before."

"You know what I mean!"

"Go then. Get out of here. I can figure this out myself then."

"You're not getting rid of me that easily. Come on Sweetheart, we can do this."

"Sweetheart? Since when do you call me that?"

"Since . . . I don't know! This whole thing is insane."

"I'm scared."

"We'll be okay. We got what we needed, and we'll get out of this. I won't let anybody hurt you."

"They're coming."

He paused before taking her in his arms. Not saying anything at all, he kissed her softly on the lips.

Seven Days Prior

"You look happy," Kenny commented, "How is Tom?"

Max shot him a look, as they walked out to their cars after their shift, "Since when are you interested in my love life?"

"Can't I ask you a simple question?"

"I know you've hated everyone I dated."

"You should stop dating assholes."

"You should stop being an asshole."

"I hope he knows what he's gotten himself into with you," Kenny scoffed, wanting to shake her in frustration, "Come on, Max."

"Tom is fine."

"Glad to hear it."

Max let out a long sigh, "I'm sorry, okay? I . . . I don't know what is wrong with me today."

"Forget it. You want to go get a beer or something?"

"Sure."

"Not seeing Tom tonight?"

"He's working. Something about a merger."

"That's her."

"Is she screwing around on him?"

"No. That's some guy from work. A . . . Kenny Lacos. Her partner."

"They look close. Can we use that?"

He smiled, "This is going to be too easy."

Max yawned as she let herself into her apartment, after a couple of beers with Kenny. She paused as she entered the dark room, and an involuntarily shudder ran through her body.

"Tom? Are you here?"

The silence echoing around her, she tried to laugh off her trepidation as she flipped on the light switch. It's nothing. No one is here.

"Story of my life," she muttered, as she tossed her purse onto the sofa.

Tom. I wish that he was here.

"It has to be tonight," Tom Miller said, "I can't stay here any longer."

"What about the girl? You know that they'll go after her to get to you."

"She knows nothing. She thinks that I'm just some business man."

"That doesn't matter. They'll still go after her."

"I'll get her to come tonight. One way or another."

"Don't say a word," a voice whispered in Max's ear, as she felt the strong hands holding her down on the bed, "You have to come with me. Now."

Max froze, as the hands jerked her up, "What do you want with me?"

"We're leaving. You fight me, you get hurt."

"Please, just let me go."

"Shut up!" he yelled, as he stuffed the damp rag in her face. Holding her tight to him, as her body went limp, he sighed, "I'm so sorry darling. It's for your own good."

Kenny looked over at Max's empty desk and frowned. Where is she, he wondered, Max is never late. She's probably with that jerk Tom.

"Where is your partner?" Jimmy Brock asked, as he came out of his office.

Kenny shrugged, "Not sure. She's not answering her phone, and I'm not about to call her at Tom's."

"I'll give her a half hour."

"Where am I?" Max groaned, as she squinted against the sunlight streaming in the window, "What the hell?"

She sat up, and looked around the empty room. This isn't my bedroom, she thought, this isn't anywhere I've ever been.

"I'm glad to see that you're awake," Tom said from the doorway, "I know this has to be a shock."

"Tom? What is going on?"

"Sure. You're safe. We're both safe. I'm sorry, there was no other way."

"What is this?"

Tom sighed and sat down on the side of the bed, "I lied to you. They . . . This is our chance to start over."

"Start over? Why would I want that? I have a life! Where are we? Was that you in my room last night? I'm supposed to be at work right now."

"You never have to work again."

"Who are you?"

"Don't you trust me?"

"No! You kidnap me, and bring me . . . here. Where is here?"

"We're off the coast of South America. No one will find us. We'll start a new life. Be new people."

"Tom," Max choked out, "Please, tell me why you're doing this."

He looked at his girlfriend of six months, "I lied. I'm not a lawyer, well I am. Not for Varitek anymore. More of . . . my last name isn't Miller. It's Millani."

"Millani? The mob Millani? You're a mobster."

"I don't want to be! I refused to be part of it, but they needed me. They thought I told you everything, and they were going to kill us both. That's why we're here. They think we know!"

"Know what?"

"Family secrets. Where the bodies are buried. Everything. My boss at Varitek, he found out who I was. My father and his goons killed him, and made it look like I did it. I had to get away, and not let you get killed."

"There had to be another way. I'm a cop Tom, I could have done something."

"There wasn't time. We can't go back."

"I can't just stay here. People are going to worry about me."

"They won't have a chance to. Your apartment is going to blow up. As far as anyone knows, we're dead. We're safe."

Kenny stared at the wreckage that used to be Max's apartment, and felt his heart leap into his throat. Max. Dead. Not Max. It can't be her.

"I found them," Carter said quietly, "Or at least what is left of them."

"DNA tests," Jimmy said through gritted teeth, "We need to know for sure."

Carter nodded, as he walked toward the charred corpses, "Of course."

"Kenny?" Jimmy asked.

"She can't be dead. We were just talking last night. Not Max."

"We'll figure this out, and the people who did this won't get away with it."

Max and Tom walked out onto the beach silently. She tilted her face up, and looked up at the sun. This is nuts, she thought, we can't do this. I can't run away.

"It'll be perfect," Tom said, as he broke into her thoughts, "After the dust settles, we can find some place and start over. Anywhere in the world darling. Take your pick."

"I want to go home. I can't let my friends and family think I'm dead."

"You will be dead if you go back. Then they'll kill me when they realize I'm alive. Is that what you want?"

"There are ways to fix this."

"No! You're not going anywhere!" Tom yelled, "You can't go back!"

"You can't keep me here! Kenny and Jimmy will figure this out. Let's go back now."

"You want to go back to them? You know they claim to be your friends, but they're both a little bit in love with you."

"That's insane, so are you. Tell me how to get off of this island."

"Oh, you're not going anywhere darling," Tom snarled, as he pushed her down on the sand, "You think that Kenny will figure this out for you? He's going to take the fall for the explosion. I never liked the way he looked at you anyway."


	2. Day 2

Day 2

"Dammit Tom! Untie me!" Max yelled, to the empty room.

She screamed in frustration and anger, and tugged hopelessly against the restraints binding her to the bed.

"There isn't anyone to hear you scream," he said, appearing at the doorway, "This is for your, our, own good. Why can't you see that?"

"You kidnap me, and set up my best friend for our murder? Why the hell would I be happy about that?"

"Your best friend? Right. You had to have been blind not to realize that the man wanted to rip your clothes off."

"That's crap. Tom, please, if you let me go, I won't say a thing. I'll take my chances with the hitmen."

"You don't know what you're saying. I'll be back soon, darling."

Max screamed again, as he shut the door.

"I don't believe this," Jimmy said under his breath, as he examined the file in front of him. This can't be right, and it doesn't have to mean anything. There has to be, there will be, an explanation, "Kenny! My office. Now."

Kenny walked slowly into his boss and good friend's office, as he tried to fight the sorrow that was invading his heart. He hadn't slept the night before because he had been haunted by thoughts of Max.

"Can you explain this?" Jimmy asked, in llew of a greeting.

"What?" Kenny asked, as he took the file, "What the hell is this?"

"You tell me."

"Jimmy. I didn't buy all of this. Where did you get this?"

"It was delivered this morning."

"I wouldn't, couldn't. Jimmy, it wasn't me."

"There are photographs too. Who the hell are these people you are meeting with, and why were you buying explosives?"

"I don't know who they are!"

"There from the Millani family. Giorgio and Franco Millani."

"The mob?"

"And you."

"It has to be a mistake. I never met them, and I didn't buy any explosives. I could never do that to Max."

"What makes you think that it has anything to do with Max?"

Kenny shook his head, "Her apartment blew up yesterday! I don't know any mobsters!"

Jimmy sighed, "I want to believe you, Kenny."

"But?"

"We have a witness."

"I'm going to untie you," Tom said, as he loosened the restraints, "There isn't anywhere to go. No one else is on this island, but you and me. You should look at this as an opportunity. I have millions in Swiss bank accounts, a new life all set up for us, all you have to do is be patient. Let this all blow over. Think about it."

"Bite me."

He traced his finger down her jawbone, "There are two ways to do this, darling. I don't want to hurt you."

Max stood and walked toward the door, "I can go?"

Tom shrugged, "I wouldn't go far. There are animals in the jungle, sharks in the ocean, and it's getting dark."

"I'll take my chances," Max scoffed, hoping in vain that she would find someone else here. Or a gun. A helicopter. Anything to get out of this nightmare, "I hate you."

"I don't have a choice," Jimmy said, as he read Kenny his Miranda rights, "I'll call Wambaugh."

"I don't need a lawyer! Jimmy, this is nuts!"

Jimmy regarded his deputy carefully, "We'll figure this out."

Something inside Kenny snapped, as he shoved Jimmy to the ground and pulled his gun out, "Stay down!"

"Kenny."

"Sorry, Jimmy," Kenny said sadly, as he smacked him on the head with the butt of his gun, "I didn't kill Max, don't work for the mob, and I won't be able to figure this thing out if I'm locked up."

He looked down at the unconscious sheriff, and fled from the station.

"You're going to get sunburn," Tom said, as he walked up behind Max.

She looked down at the water lapping up around her bare feet before turning back to look at him, "You don't have any aloe in your island prison?"

"I'm sorry you're so upset, Maxine. You have to believe I did all this so that you wouldn't die. My own life, I wasted that. I couldn't live with myself if they killed me too."

"So you set my best friend up for my murder? The rest of this I could possibly understand. Kenny doesn't deserve this. I won't let him go to prison for this."

"There is more."

"There isn't anything else you can tell me that would make me hate you more then I do now."

"We made it look like he was part of the mob, so he could take the fall for some of the stuff that I was going to be accused of. To take the heat of me, so my family would forget about it. A cop in bed with the mob makes for a lot of news coverage."

Max backed away from him slowly, "You are an unimaginable bastard."

Kenny drove out of town faster than he ever thought possible, as his thoughts raced a million miles a minute.

"Shit," he said aloud, "Max, what the hell is going on?"

Pulling his truck off the side of the road, he tugged his uniform shirt off. Grabbing an old gym shirt from his bag, he quickly changed his clothes. Tucking his gun and wallet into it, he stuck his Chicago Cubs hat on, and knew he had to ditch his truck and get out of town.

"An innocent man wouldn't run," Jimmy said sadly, as he pressed the ice pack on his head, "Listen up everyone!"

The melancholy mood settled over the office, as the news sunk in.

"It could just be a mistake," Skeeter said, "I mean the mob and Kenny? That is a bit of a stretch. The photographs aren't ever verified as legit yet."

"He ran."

"What if we bring in the Millanis? If they had anything to do with Max and Tom being blown up, why would they?"

"What do we really know about Tom?" Littleton asked, "He's a lawyer, worked for Varitek, what else?"

"What if the blast was just meant to target him?" Skeeter asked.

"Why blow up Max's place then? What was wrong with his?"

"Maybe he told her something that no one else was supposed to know," Jimmy added.

"Why would Kenny be part of it? Besides the fact he hates every guy that Max dates. Dated. He wouldn't kill them though. I even thought that he and Max, never mind," Skeeter trailed off, "He wouldn't have hurt her Jimmy."

Jimmy shook his head, "There is more. Kenny owed a ton in gambling debts, to Giorgio Millani. He came to collect, and we have a witness. A Sophia Campenella, a woman that Kenny was having an affair with."

"What did she have to say?" Skeeter asked.

"That Kenny was in deep with the gambling debts, and that this was his way of paying them back. That there was no other way, and that she was terrified that he would kill her too."

"This is insane," Skeeter said, as he let the news sink in.

"I have an APB out," Jimmy said, "We'll get him."

"Would you just talk to me?" Tom asked, as Max sat stoically, "It's going to be awfully boring here if we don't talk."

Max just glared at him, as she looked around the house, "You didn't put much entertainment in your bunker?"

"Come on Maxine. We used to have fun together."

"Used to. Before you kidnaped me, fake our deaths, and are trying to send my friend to prison."

"I explained all of that!"

"I'm going to lie down."

Kenny slumped against the vinyl seat, as the bus pulled away from the station. I'm going to figure this out, he promised, for Max. I didn't kill her, or that asshole Tom. The Millanis. That's the first step. Lets say that they killed . . . Max. Why? Why pin it on me? Max. She wouldn't have anything to do with them. Tom. Tom Miller. Tom Millani? That bears some thought.

I need to get to a computer, and do some research.

"Kenny's truck was found on the side of the road, right outside town," Skeeter said a few hours later, "About halfway between the train and bus stations. I betting he skipped town."

Jimmy sighed, not wanting to believe any of this, "Carlson and Neederman are bringing Franco and Giorgio in."

Skeeter fell silent, "What do you think that they're going to say?"

"I don't know, but we need answers. I don't want to believe that Kenny played any part in this, but the evidence is very damning."

"I could see him wanting to hurt Tom because, well you know there was always some chemistry between him and Max. He couldn't kill them though, not matter how in debt he was. He just couldn't."

Kenny settled in behind the desk at the Greenbay library, and pulled his cap lower on his brow. They'll be looking for me, he thought, I can't let them catch me until I can prove that I'm innocent. Whoever killed Max won't get away with it. They'll pay.

"What if?" he wondered aloud, "What if it was some mistake? Maybe she isn't dead?"

She wouldn't fake her death, he argued with himself, she wouldn't let everyone think she was either. That isn't Max. Focus on Tom, what he was involved in. Punching Tom's name into the computer, he waited.

"We've got to go," Tom snapped, pulling Max up from the bed, "Do you hear that?"

"Let go of me. I'm not going anywhere else with you."

"Someone is here. Come on!"

"I hope it's the F.B.I."

"We have to hide! I have a bunker in the woods, no one will find us there. We'll be safe!"

Max listened as she heard the approaching footsteps, before turning back to Tom, "You're insane."

"They're going to kill us!"

"I'll take my chances," she said under her breath, before screaming.

Kenny added Millani to his computer search, and nearly leapt out of his chair at the search display.

"Thomas Millani," he said under his breath, "Youngest son of Carla and Giorgio Millani. Funny thing is that he looks a lot like Tom Miller. Dammit Max, what the hell did you get yourself into?"

Hitting the print button, he leaned back in his chair. It still doesn't prove anything, except that Max's boyfriend was looking to get away from his mob ties? Maybe his family found him, and this is their payback? Why set me up? To throw suspicion off of themselves? Max, I'll figure this out for you.

"Ah, where did you get these pictures?" Giorgio asked, "They don't prove anything."

"We know that you're involved in organized crime," Jimmy stated, "And that is my deputy. What is your relationship with him?"

"I've never seen that man in my entire life. These pictures are obviously doctored."

"You're not going anywhere until you answer me!"

"Unless you're planning on arresting us, we're leaving now."

"Are you crazy!" Tom yelled, clamping his hand over Max's mouth, "Shut up!"

Max bit him, and jerked her head away, "Help! Tom Miller, Millani, kidnaped me! Please! Over here!"

"Shut up!" Tom hissed, as he pulled his own gun from his pocket, "Get down!"

He tossed her down, as a shower of bullets shattered the windows around them. Max ducked her head in an attempt to avoid the glass, and looked up in horror as she watched Tom collapse in a bloody heap on the floor.

"Oh shit," she whispered, as she felt for a pulse on his neck, "Tom?"

Shakily, she took the gun from his hand, and tucked it into the waistband of her shorts. Staying low, she listened for sounds outside, and sucked in her breath as she heard footsteps moving across the living room. Clicking the safety off, she listened more carefully and made out a second, then a third set of footsteps. I've got to get out of her, her mind screamed, as she heard the footsteps pause outside the bedroom door. Moving as quickly and silently as possible, Max slipped into the adjoining bathroom, and locked the door behind her. No windows, she thought, how can there not be windows? Ceiling vent it is, she decided, pushing the cover off. Shimming up, she recovered it the best she could, and squeezed her way through the vent.

Kenny clutched his printouts in his hand, and was unsure what to do next. He was a lawyer at Varitek, he had to of had some files there. They have to know something. Or his apartment, a computer. It has to be crawling with cops by now. I can't get in.

"Dammit," Jimmy said under his breath, as he watched the Millanis leave.

"They could have been telling the truth," Skeeter said, "Maybe they didn't know Kenny, and none of them had anything to do with this."

"They're mobsters."

"Yeah," Skeeter said, "Jimmy? These came through on the fax. Tom Miller? He's actually Tom Millani. The youngest son. I spoke to the CEO at Varitek too, and it's something that they recently found out too, and they fired Tom. Funny thing happened though, the company president turned up dead soon after."

"You're just telling me this now? Where did the fax come in from?"

"Greenbay. I think someone was doing some research."

"Kenny."

Max slipped into the woods, and ran blindly into the night. These people had to come from somewhere, a boat, plane, something. Even if they're trying to kill me, maybe I could steal their boat?

"Or not," she whispered, looking at the contingent of people gathered around the helicopter sitting on the beach, "Shit."

Tom what have you gotten me into? Slinking back into the shadows, she stifled a scream as someone grabbed her around the neck.

"Going somewhere little girl?"

"Tom thought he could get away," Franco sighed, "I talked to Marco. He took care of Tom, and they got the girl."

"It didn't have to turn out this way. Tom did go to a lot of trouble though."

"He should have just come back to the family. It would have been that simple.

The two men fell silent, as the sun went down.


	3. Day 3

Day 3

"Let go of me!" Max yelled, without thinking, as she raised her knee to the man's crotch, and lunged into the woods again. Sprinting into the darkness, she prayed that none of the gunshots she heard hit her.

I'm going to die, she thought, I'm never going home again. Ducking behind the trees, Max froze as she saw the cliff up ahead.

Kenny picked the basement door lock of Tom's apartment building, after taking a survey of the surrounding area. A stupid mobster probably threw everything out, but I have to try. For Max. Moving quickly down the empty hallway, he paused in front of Tom's apartment.

"Asshole," he said under his breath, as he tried the knob, "How can it just be unlocked?"

Pushing the door open, and ignoring the sense of trepidation building inside him, "Tom?"

Hearing nothing, Kenny quickly shut the door behind him and surveyed the mess in front of him. I'm not the first one here, he thought, there has to be something left. He paused at the smashed picture on the floor, and studied it sadly.

"Max," he said, looking at her and Tom's image staring back at him, "Sweetheart, I'm so sorry about this. You didn't deserve to die like this. What the hell?"

He shook the broken glass out of the frame, and turned the envelope over in his hands. Turning it over slowly, a computer disk tumbled out into his hand, as well as a slip of paper. He slid the two into is pocket, and eyed the destroyed computer and shredded papers that littered the apartment. Moving back toward the bedroom, he kicked the debris out of his way.

"It was faxed from the Greenbay library, which is only a few miles from Tom's apartment," Skeeter said, "I bet Kenny headed there next."

Jimmy leaned back in his desk chair, "Let's go. I need some answers from Kenny, whether he was involved in this or not."

"Jimmy," Skeeter said a bit hesitantly, "Tom was a Millani, and he obviously didn't want to be. What if he faked his own death to get away from that life?"

"Do you think Max would have gone willingly with him?"

"No, but what if he took her along because of his family? To keep her safe?"

"What about Kenny?"

"They needed a fall man."

"Why run now? I say we check out Varitek too, see if his job had anything to do with this."

Max paused at the edge of the cliff, and peered down toward the bottom. A couple hundred feet? I'd die, but . . . that is an interesting idea. She shed the sweatshirt of Tom's she was wearing quickly, and heaved it over the edge with a scream. She watched with pleasure as it became tangled in some brush on the way down, as she ducked back behind some rocks.

"What the hell was that?" one of the men asked, as they came upon the cliff.

"Look," the other said, pointing downwards, "I'd say our girl took a tumble."

"It saves some trouble," the third man replied, "Tom is dead, she's dead. They won't be causing us any more problems. This place gives me the creeps anyway. Where did Tom find it anyway?"

"He liked it because it was only 100 miles of Chili. Close enough to get to, but far enough to escape to. He told the wrong people though."

"Let's go. It's done."

Max held her breath as she watched the men disappear in the direction they had come from. Slipping deeper into the brush, she sank onto the warm ground and choked back her tears. Stay still, she commanded herself, until you hear that helicopter leave. You'll find a way off of this island Max, don't worry. You'll be okay.

"Thanks," Kenny said, feeling like the criminal everyone thought he was, as he handed the man all the cash he left.

"Hey a new passport, a new life."

"Yeah. You saved my life."

The man thumbed his cash, "Tell no one where you got this."

"Not a problem."

"Apparently everyone has been to Tom's apartment," Jimmy said, as he and Skeeter made their way toward Varitek, "That place has been ransacked more than once."

"I don't like this," Skeeter said, "The more we find out, the worse it gets."

"We will get to the bottom of this," Jimmy promised, "The CEO, George Epstein, is waiting for us."

Skeeter nodded, "This whole thing is getting weird."

Max wasn't sure how long she laid in the brush after she heard the helicopter take off. She swallowed back her fear, as she listened to the departing chopper. They're gone, she thought, as she stood slowly. Brushing the dirt off of her bare legs, she looked around carefully.

"Tom," she said aloud, "Shit, Tom."

"Okay Tom. Let's see where these coordinates are," Kenny said under his breath as he punched the numbers into the computer. Drumming his fingers impatiently against the counter, he looked around Kinkos warily. I know that Jimmy isn't going to just let me walk away, he thought, I have to move.

"Bingo," he said, as a location popped up on the map, "Chili? Why the hell would he have an island in Chili?"

Slumping lower in his seat, he scribbled down the new information on the pad of paper in front of him. Sliding the computer disk into the computer, he frowned at the encrypted numbers in front of him. Why would he leave it behind if it was so important, Kenny wondered to himself, unless someone else was going to come and get it? Stuffing everything into his pockets he made is way back outside.

"Tom Miller was a gifted attorney," George said, with a sigh, "It was a shock when we found out about his mob connections. We have a lot of, how should I say it? Classified information here that we didn't want to fall into the wrong hands."

"So you fired him?" Jimmy asked.

George nodded, "Not right away. We had some information leaks over the past few months, but we never suspected it to be Tom. Once we found out about his connections, we looked into his files, emails, phone logs, and the trail led back to him and his family."

"He didn't take the news well?"

"A few days later, last week actually, our company president was found shot dead. I'll say that he didn't take it well."

"I read about that," Skeeter interjected.

"The Greenbay police are investigating, and so far it points back to the mob."

"We're going to get a copy of that report," Jimmy said.

"I've been reading in the paper about how a Rome deputy is tied to all of this," George said, "Is he also involved in my company losing millions because our competitors now have our research and information?"

"We're not sure," Jimmy said, "What sort of information did you lose?"

"It's classified," George stressed, "I can't tell you anything else. Good luck with your investigation."

Max stumbled back toward the house, as she listened around for signs of other life. Swallowing back her fears, she made her way closer to the house. Pausing on the front porch, she took a deep breath and shoved the door open. Hearing nothing but silence echo around her, Max made her way to the bedroom.

"Oh Tom," she whispered, looking at the still body on the floor. Shakily, she reached and felt for a pulse, "Tom, I'm sorry. I should have listened to you."

She rose to her feet, and backed away from his cooling body slowly. Turning toward the sparse bedroom, she began rummaging for anything that might help her get off of the island.

Kenny silently blessed his new and fake passport, as he leaned back in his coach seat. If Max is in Chili, I'm going to find her, he vowed. Whatever is on this disk too, why would Tom leave it behind? Maybe he was waiting for someone else to come and pick it up? Who? They were apparently looking for it.

"Max," he said aloud, "Come on. Let me find you."

"You don't think that Kenny killed that guy?" Skeeter asked, "Come on Jimmy. This whole thing, it's getting . . . Has anyone even checked out the witness' story? Could she be working for the mob?"

"It's being looked into," Jimmy replied, "I don't want to believe that Kenny had any part of this, but it doesn't look good."

"The bookie. What was his name?"

Jimmy paused, "It's in the report. I don't remember."

"Why don't we go and find out? I'm not ready to hang Kenny out to dry until we're sure, and I'm shocked that you are."

"Watch your tone, Deputy."

"Sorry, but think Jimmy. It's all a little convenient, isn't it? Varitek has a mole, Tom gets fired, Max and Tom get blown up, Tom's mobs connections come to light, then these pictures of Kenny and the Millanis come out? It reeks of a set up."

Jimmy sighed, "We have a tail on Franco and Giorgio, and police around the state are keeping an eye out for Kenny."

"He'll investigate on his own, and I'll bet he was the one that tore apart Tom's apartment. If he is innocent, which I believe he is, he'll be after the real killer. If there is one. What if they're not dead, Jimmy?"

"That's a big what if. The DNA tests should be back at the end of the week."

"What if it's all a big set up? So that Tom could get away from this life?"

"We're looking at all possible angles. You know that. Now, we're going to get that report from Greenbay."

"The bunker," Max said aloud, as she looked out at the darkening day, "Tom said something about a bunker."

Looking around at the ransacked house, she wanted to scream in frustration. Why couldn't there be a phone, computer, boat, helicopter, anything, Max wondered, as she sank onto the floor. Think like a cop, she demanded herself. Or even a map to this bunker Tom mentioned. It can't be that big of an island, she rationalized, and the bunker would probably be in a secluded spot. Tom had to of had a plan to get off of this island eventually. A quick get away, something near the water. A secluded spot by the water. Now all I have to do is find it.

Max rose to her feet slowly, and quickly grabbed a sweatshirt from the discarded pile of clothes on the floor. Pulling it on over her head, she grabbed the flashlight, and made her way back out toward the shore.

Kenny slumped lower in his seat, as he watched a familiar face come up the aisle. This isn't a coincidence, he thought, as he turned his gaze out toward the landscape below. He has to be looking for me. He pulled his cap brim lower over his eyes as the man walked past his row, and toward the back of the plane.

"Sir?" the flight attendant asked, as Kenny jumped about 10 feet, "Would you care for a beverage?"

"What? No, not right now," Kenny replied, as he tried to slow down his racing heart, "Thanks."

"One shot, clean through the head," Skeeter read aloud, "It was quick at least. Remind me not to ever piss off Tom Miller."

"Tom Miller is dead," Jimmy countered, "Or so it would seem."

"You're starting to have doubts?"

"Possibly. I want to talk to Sophia again, and see what else she can tell us about Kenny and the mob. If there is anything."

Skeeter nodded in agreement, "Well she does happen to live in Greenbay. I think a surprise visit is in order."

"At least it's a pretty island," Max said under her breath, as she tracked around the perimeter of it, "Tom had good taste at least."

Glancing up at the darkening sky, she gritted her teeth in frustration. I have to find it because I don't want to spend the night in that house with Tom's corpse. Scanning the landscape around her for anything, "What the hell is that?"

Walking stealthily toward the rocks, and toward the flash of white she saw, "Oh please. Please."

Max paused on top the first formation, "God dammit. Stupid sea foam! Wait, what?"

She crouched down, and peered into the cave across the cove from her. Pointing the flashlight at it, and tried to make out the shadows she in the sunset. Gingerly, she made her way closer, and tentatively shown the light into the entrance before she got in.

"What the hell?" she asked, more to hear the sound of her own voice. Taking a shaky step inside, she made her way toward the metal briefcase in the back of the cave, "Well, at least it isn't ticking."

Locked too, Max thought, as she picked it up. This isn't what she pictured when Tom mentioned a safe bunker to hide out in, and I know I'm not sleeping here tonight. Hefting the briefcase into her arms, she stumbled back out into the rapidly darkening day. Of course it's locked because nothing about this is simple.

Kenny slipped into the crowd at the Santiago airport, as he speedily made his way toward customs. I made it this far, he thought, and there is no way that I'm stopping now. Morell, or no Morell. I'm going to get to the bottom of this if it kills me. I owe that to Max, whether she is dead or alive. If she is alive, she has a lot of explaining to do.

Handing his passport to the customs agent, he glanced around stealthily. Where did he go, Kenny wondered, where are you Morell? Tuning back in, he slid his newly stamped passport into his pocket, and slipped out into the hot Chilean climate.

"This would be an empty lot," Skeeter said, as looked around what should have been Sophia's house, "I don't think she lives here, Jimmy."

Jimmy nodded, and his face was expressionless, "That's obvious. Shit."

"This lends credibility to the set up scenario," Skeeter said, feeling hopeful that his friend was a killer and a mobster.

"Yeah," Jimmy agreed, "But why Kenny of all people?"

"A cop in bed with the mob? It makes for a good news story. You saw how all of those newspapers picked it up and ran with it."

"And it takes the heat of Tom, as a company mole and a mobster."

Skeeter nodded, "If he was one. What if he just wanted to run away from that life, and he needed a fall man? Who better then Max's best friend, and come on Jimmy, he's been in love with her for years. Tom had to have seen it, and they could have set it up to look like a revenge scenario. Kill the competition, get the girl. Whoops, the girl is dead too."

"Max wouldn't have stood for that."

"I doubt Tom gave her a choice."

"Where would they go? We need to get a list of all the property that Tom owns, frequented vacation spots, and anywhere that he has a bank account."

Skeeter nodded, "We better get back to the office."

Max slammed the metal briefcase against the rock as hard as she could, "What is this made of? Titanium? Come on, give me a break here."

She glanced back up at the house, and was dreading going back in there with Tom's body. I have to move it, she thought, bury it. He deserves a burial at least. Maybe he has the combination to this thing on him? Shit, that means I have to touch him. Sighing, she made her way back inside and to the bedroom.

"Hi Tom," she said hesitantly, as she quickly slid her hands into his pockets before she lost her nerve, "I'm sorry for this. What is this?"

Max pulled out a key ring, and turned it over in her hands. Four keys, and this last one . . . it looks like it could be for a boat. This first one, maybe it'll fit that lock. This third, possibly a safe deposit box, and the second, well it looks like it might be for this house or the hypothetical bunker? Rising back to her feet, she turned back toward the briefcase and slid the key in.

"Thank you," she whispered, as the lock popped, "Oh my god."

Max stared down at the stack of hundred dollar bills that were lying peacefully in front of her, before picking up the folded maps on top of them.

"That's Chili," she whispered, tracing the line running off the mainland, to the spec located off shore, "So that must be where we are. So I have a map, now I need a way to use it."

She folded the map quickly, and studied the maze that ran across the other one. Frowning, she filed it away to study later. The last one was more confusing then the other one, with it's rows of numbers. Max glanced back out the window, and into the darkness.

"Well, I'm not going anywhere tonight."

Kenny walked down to the docks, and watched the cruise ships come in. Turning his attention to the smaller ships docked across the harbor, a vague plan began to form in his mind. I don't know anything about boats, and it's getting late. No way that I can find this island at night. Tomorrow though, I have to get there tomorrow.

He walked quickly, and did a double take when he came to the boat charter stand.

"Uh, English?" he asked, the native looking man.

"Yes," he replied, "English. What you need?"

Kenny could have leapt with joy, "I need a boat, to get to these coordinates tomorrow. Is it possible?"

"Si, senor. Pricey though."

"I have money."

To be continued.


	4. Day 4

Day 4

Max woke up, as the sun streamed in through the windows. Squinting against the intruding light, reality set in.

"Why couldn't this have been a bad dream?" she groaned, as she pushed her hair out her eyes, "Why can't I be at home, in my own bed? Instead of in a house, with a body that is starting to smell, mobsters who want me dead, who at least think I'm dead, and no feasible way to get out of here. Unless I find this hypothetical boat of Toms. Please God, let me find the boat."

Stomach grumbling, she stumbled toward the kitchen.

-----

Kenny silently hoped that his fake credit card would hold up a bit longer, at least until he could get to this island.

"Thanks," he said, as he bordered the charter, "Uh, how long is this going to take?"

"Six hours," the crew man grunted, "Why you go to empty island?"

"I'm looking for someone. Has anyone else been there lately?"

The man shrugged, "Helicopters have been flying in and out for the past few days. Who knows where they go?"

Kenny nodded, and settled in, "Is there anything I can do?"

"You passenger. Sit. Enjoy ride."

----

"We ran Sophia's prints, I got them from her statement, and you know what?" Skeeter asked, "Her real name is Carmen Sardelli. She is Tom's sister, and is married to Robert Sardelli."

"Who is known to work with Giorgio Millani," Jimmy finished, "Shit."

"And now she has vanished. That is a shock."

"We have to find Kenny," Jimmy stated, "Shit. Those bastards set him up."

"And we fell for it."

"I fell for it. You didn't."

Skeeter shrugged, "I didn't want to believe my friend was capable of that. Where would he go?"

Jimmy paused, "I don't know. If Tom set this whole thing up, Kenny would be looking for him. Where would Tom go?"

"We'll have the list of his real estate soon enough."

----

Max made herself eat something before she started trekking around the island again. Stuffing the metal briefcase, some clothes, food, and Tom's gun in a backpack, she made her way back out into the heat of the day. I already checked this side, and it's time to see what is on the other side of this jungle. Gritting her teeth, she plunged through the trees. Please don't let there be any killer, poisonousness, rabid, animals, waiting to kill me. Mobsters either. Come on, just cut me a break.

"What is that?" she asked aloud, as she came to the cliff that she flung the sweatshirt off yesterday. Crouching on the edge of the cliff, she peered down at the lagoon beneath her, "Oh shit."

Watching the people disembark the boat, she slowly backed away from the edge. They're back, she thought, they must know! Or they sent someone back to finish the job, or to look for the money.

"If no one is on the boat," Max whispered, as a vague plan began to form in her mind, "How the hell do I get down there?"

----

Kenny looked around the tranquil lagoon, as he stepped on Tom's island. Where do I even start to look, he thought, and if Tom is a mobster, I doubt he'll have any reservations about shooting me. Max, concentrate on her for now. If she is alive, find her. He took a deep breath, as he began his hike up the cliff.

"Interesting," Jimmy mused, as he read over the list of Tom's properties, "Tom Miller and Tom Millani own a good deal of land."

Skeeter nodded, "No shit. Vegas, Miami, New York, Sweden, Russia, Chili, Acapulco, and Greece. Only New York and Las Vegas are listed under Miller though. Where do you want to start?"

"He has private islands in Chili and Greece. I'd start there."

Skeeter nodded, "I'll call the F.B.I. I'm sure that Morell will be eager to help out."

----

Come on assholes, Max thought, as she crouched behind the rock formation. You want me? Come and get me. Switching the safety off on the gun, she vowed that she would get off of this island today, mob or no mob. Steadying her shaking hands, she dared to take a peak out from her hiding place. I swear in my next life all I'm going to do is lie in a hammock and drink maragaritas. Shit! They're here!

Hearing the footsteps come closer, Max leveled the gun between the crack and rocks and fired at the approaching figure.

"Shit!" a voice yelled, as she watched the body hit the dirt, as she fired again, "Don't shoot! I don't want to hurt you!"

Max paused, as she listened to the familiar voice. Lowering the gun, she watched as the man stood up, and looked around him. I can't see his face, she thought, so how do I know? I'm losing it here. I really am.

"Max?" he called, "Max, if you're here, answer me! For the love of God, don't shoot me!"

She choked back her tears, as she leapt to her feet, "Kenny?"

----

"Morell is out of the country on assignment," Skeeter said, "So someone named Rich Baker is coming down."

Jimmy nodded, "Good. Look at this. There have been two private boat rentals today, and they both requested to go out to this island."

"Kenny," Skeeter said, "And who else?"

"The Millanis? Tom and Max? I don't know. Either way, someone is going to need back up."

----

"Max," Kenny gasped, as he crossed the ground to her, and pulled her into her arms, "Max. Thank God."

"Kenny," she cried, as the tears she hadn't shed in the past four days came rushing out, "Oh Kenny! I'm so sorry! I almost shot you."

"Ssh, don't cry. It's okay," he promised, just looking at her for a moment, "Max, what the hell is going on? I thought you were dead. Where is Tom? What are you doing here?"

"I woke up here three days ago, with Tom. He said we had to run away from his family, they were going to kill us, and they set it up to make it look like he killed his boss."

"The Millanis."

"How do you know?"

"I've been doing some research."

Max nodded, as he wrapped his arms around her, "He said that he made it look like you blew us up, and that you had ties to his family. So it would take the heat off of us. Then these people showed up yesterday, and . . . they killed Tom. Tom's dead . . ."

"Max," Kenny said, hugging her close, as she shook, "I'm sorry."

"He shouldn't have died," she gasped.

"What about you?"

"I ran, and they think I fell off the cliff," she whispered.

"It'll be okay. I promise you that. I have a boat down there, and we're getting out of here. If it's okay with you?"

She nodded, "Yeah. What was that?"

Kenny moved closer to the cliff, and he peered over the edge, "Uh Max? Are you sure that these people think you're dead?"

"I'm not sure of anything. Why?" she asked, joining him on the edge, "Oh God."

She closed her eyes, as she watched the crew of Kenny's boat get slaughtered on the beach below.

"No, no, no," she breathed, "Why are they back?"

"Come on," he said, grabbing her hand, "They're heading up here. Where were you heading to before I showed up?"

"I . . . I was looking for a way off this island. Tom had to have a boat, or something to get off this island somewhere."

"Well come on then," Kenny said, as they ran into the jungle, "I don't think that we're going back there. What's in the bag?"

"Stuff," Max said vaguely, as they ducked under the tree branches in an effort to put as much distance between them and new arrivals as possible, "How did you know how to find me?"

"I knew I didn't kill you, so I started looking for who did. It led me here."

"Kenny? Do . . . people think that you did?"

"Yeah."

Max contemplated that before replying, "You came anyway? Do you know how much trouble that you're going to be in?"

"And I don't care. You're alive, and that's all that matters to me right now. So keep going. I don't know where we are going, but we're making great time."

"Look," Max gasped, as they came to the other side of the island, "Now what?"

Kenny looked around at the 10 foot drop, to the rocky shore beneath the, "There has to be a way down."

She scanned the area up and down the coast. Caves. There are more caves, "Come on. Let's look in the caves. If nothing else, maybe we'll find something in them."

"What are you talking about?"

"I found a briefcase full of money, a map, and some other stuff on the other side of this hell hole, so maybe Tom left a helicopter over here."

Kenny listened to the sounds coming from the woods, "It'll give us a place to hide at least. They're getting closer, Max."

She nodded, running on pure adrenaline, "Come on."

----

"The Santiago airport just faxed these pictures over," Skeeter said, "We know where Kenny is now."

"And hopefully where Max is," Jimmy added, "If she is still among the living."

"Careful," Max said, "It's slippery in here."

Kenny didn't say anything, as she flipped on the flashlight. He just held tight to her, to reassure himself that she was real and to keep them both balanced over the rocky terrain.

"It's like a maze," she said in his silence, "We could get lost in here. Or . . ."

"Or what?"

"What if these caves run all the way under the island? Maybe we could get back to the lagoon, and get on one of those boats."

"That is a big what if."

"Tom would have known if they did, and that's probably why he picked this island out of all the other ones. This is the bunker. The map," she trailed off, rummaging through her bag, and pulling it out, "See? This one shows us how to get back to the mainland, and this one . . . I didn't know what it was. It's these caves!"

Kenny peered over her shoulder, "So if we're here . . ."

"We want to go over here," Max said, feeling hopeful for the first time in what felt like weeks, "Kenny, this means that there is a chance that we're going to get out of this!"

"What are the chances that those guys have a map too, and know about these caves?"

"Do you have a better plan?"

"Don't get snippy. I'm here to rescue you."

"I don't need you to rescue me. I was doing just fine on my own."

"Yeah? I could tell when you almost shot me."

"I didn't know it was you. I thought it was them."

"Maybe your aim will be better next time."

"Oh, shut up."

Kenny grabbed her arm, "Max, wait. What are we fighting about? We have to work together to get out of here."

She tried staying mad, but let out an exasperated sigh, "I know that. Do you know how glad I was to see you? I don't think I have ever been more happy to see anyone. I'm scared, Kenny."

Knowing that Max almost never admits when she feels vulnerable, Kenny treaded carefully in the dimness of the flashlight illuminated cave, "Max, we're going to get out of this. Together, both of us. Look at me. We are going to fine. Don't be scared. We'll keep each other safe."

Max swallowed, as she promised herself that she wouldn't cry again, "Thanks."

----

"Kenny wasn't the only one to show up in the pictures. Look who is walking behind him," Skeeter said, "Look familiar?"

"Shit," Jimmy cursed, as he examined the picture more closely, "Is that Morell? He knows that Kenny is a suspect in all of this, why isn't he arresting him?"

"Maybe he's hoping that Kenny will lead him somewhere, or to someone?"

"Look," Max whispered, "Is that an exit?"

"Wait here," Kenny instructed, "We don't know who is out there."

"Please don't leave me here alone."

Kenny glanced down at her, and saw the fear that she was valiantly attempting to hide, "Stay behind me Max, and get ready to run. Give me the gun."

Max did as he said, as the two of them crept to the opening carefully. Kenny looked back at her quickly, before emerging out of the cave. Crouching behind the bush that shielded the exit from view, he surveyed the land in front of him. The lagoon, where the boats were, was 100 feet in front of him, and he didn't want Max to have to see the bodies of the crew that he traveled out to the island with. He turned his attention to the boats, and noted the guard standing on the beach in front of them.

"Kenny?"

"We're back at the lagoon. Someone is watching the boats."

Max nodded, "So what? We wait for them to leave, and then we're stuck here again?"

"We're getting out of here, Max. I promise you that. I didn't come all this way to get stuck on a deserted island. Although it would never be boring with you."

She smiled for the first time in days, and she glanced up at the setting sun, "What if we wait until dark?"

Kenny shook his head, "They'll all be back before then. No one wants to be out in the jungle at night. There is one guy there now. I say we take him out, and run for it."

"You just want to shoot him?"

"Hey, you seemed in to shooting me earlier."

She regarded him carefully, "We probably only get one shot."

"You want to take it?"

"I don't think my aim is the best today."

Kenny turned and looked into her eyes. He pushed her tangled hair off of her face, "Max."

She laid her hand over his, and felt her heart pounding in her chest, "Kenny?"

He pulled her close to him for a brief instance, before saying very softly, "If anything goes wrong, I want you to run back in the direction we came. Promise me that, Max. Promise me."

"I promise," she said hoarsely.

"Good. Get down," he said, as he leveled the gun.

"Are you saying that Morell is part of the mob?" Jimmy asked.

Skeeter shrugged, "Anything is possible these days. It bears checking out."

Max closed her eyes, as Kenny pulled the trigger. The gun shot echoed through the cave, as he pulled her to her feet.

"Go," he commanded, as they fled out the exit of the cave and down the beach, "Faster Max! They're coming!"

Max heard the shouts coming from the top of the cliff, and the shots coming from the guns. Praying and keeping her head down she ran after Kenny toward the boat. Leaping over the gunnels, "Keys! Where are the keys?"

"Here," he said, as he turned the ignition on, "Untie those lines Max! Good."

She braced herself, as the boat planed out of the lagoon and toward the open ocean.

"Keep your head down!" Kenny demanded, as he turned back toward the beach, "Our friends are coming."

Max dared to glance back at the island, and could make out a group of three men climbing in the other vessel, "Oh God, Kenny."

"We made it this far," he said, pushing the throttle farther, "And it'll be dark soon. That'll make it harder for them."

"And for us. The map."

"Are then any other islands on it? We need a place to hide, or a different port to go into. Max, they know that we're trying to get back to the mainland. We need a different entrance point!"

She struggled to read the map, while the wind whipped around her head, "Does this boat have a radio? Could we call the Coast Guard, the Navy, something? The harbor master?"

"I hope your Spanish is better than mine!"

Max snuck another glance behind her, and then looked up at the setting sun, "Is there any extra fuel?"

"Why?"

"I saw this in a movie once, where some people were trying to kill a giant alligator. They dumped the gas in the water, and then lit it. Everything exploded!"

"Your insane!"

"I've been trapped on an island by my dead mobster boyfriend for days. Indulge me."

"It might be insane enough to work. Dump it, and I'll slow down," Kenny said, as he let some pressure off of the throttle, "Hurry Max!"

"I'm going as fast as I can," she snapped, as she dumped the fuel overboard, as the other boat made up some distance, "How much of this do we need to get home?"

"Probably a lot," Kenny said, looking at the half full gauge, "It won't do us much good if we aren't alive to use it."

Max nodded, and tossed one more tank in the water, "Lighter?"

Kenny tossed the one on the dash to her, as the other boat closed in, "Ready? One, two, three! Now!"

Max flicked the lighter, and tossed it in. She turned her head, as the other boat exploded into the night.


	5. Day 5

Day 5

"How long are we going to sit here for?" Max asked hoarsely, as they watched the fire continue to burn, as the sun began to appear over the horizon.

"I was hoping you would sleep," Kenny said, knowing that her body didn't relax at all in his arms over the course of the night, "I was waiting for the sun to come up. I don't know how to drive a boat in the daylight, so driving in the dark might be a problem."

Max snuggled closer to him, and felt some comfort in his arms, "Maybe someone will see the fire from the mainland?"

"It's still 98 miles to Chili," Kenny said slowly, "Max, I've been looking at the map."

"And?"

"We have half a tank of fuel, and that is how much it takes to get back. Most likely where the mob is waiting, or the authorities to pick me up. I found this disk, at Tom's apartment. I'm thinking whatever he was running from is probably on it."

"And you want to figure that out before we go back," Max finished for him, "And it should clear you from all the allegations about being in the mob."

"Something like that, and I don't want to take you back any place where you'll probably be killed."

Max looked toward the backpack, "We do have a briefcase of money, and people think I'm dead."

"They'll figure out I rented a boat and came here. Then with this one that exploded, we have to figure this thing out, Max."

"Where are we going?"

Kenny pointed to the map, "Look. If we go down the coast, until Punta Arenas, ships dock there. Cruise ships."

"You want to stow away on a cruise ship? I don't even have a passport."

"Your biggest concern is not having a passport? In all of this?" Kenny asked, as he rummaged through his pocket, "Here. I got a fake one before I left the country, and I got you one too. Just in case. We're not going to stow away. We're going to be passengers. Who will look for us there?"

"Cahli Vangas?"

"Tobias Vangas."

"So I'm supposed to be your wife?"

"Come on, Cahli. What do we have to lose?"

"Not much, considering," Max trailed off, as the absurdity of everything hit her, "Ok, Tobias. Let's go."

--

"There was a boat explosion, about two miles off of Tom's island," Skeeter said the next morning.

"What?" Jimmy said.

"Four people were on board," Skeeter trailed off, "Authorities went to the island, and found three more on the beach, and a Tom Millani shot dead in the house there. No sign of Max."

"Tom didn't die in the explosion here?"

Skeeter shook his head, "Apparently not. I talked to a Captain Vasquez."

"And?"

"He found handcuffs attached to the bed posts, and some womans clothes too. A safe, with some fake identification."

"For Tom and Max?"

Skeeter nodded, "Yeah. If Tom is dead, and she didn't take that . . . Where the hell is she?"

"With Kenny," Jimmy said slowly, "He took a boat out there . . ."

"Hypothetically, killed Tom because he was keeping Max prisoner. Then the second boat showed up, with Morell? And killed the crew of Kenny's boat?"

"Uh huh. Then Kenny and Max sped out on the first boat."

"The other followed."

"And one exploded."

"Which one? Who is dead?"

"Four people?"

"What if they were being held hostage on it?"

"We need to go to Chili."

--

"Land," Max cried, "Oh, Kenny. We did it."

"You want to drive us in?"

She looked up at him, "Is that what we're going to do? Just drive up to the harbor? Won't that be a little suspicious?"

"And your idea is? You want to swim in?"

"Of course not," Max trailed off, "Well maybe a little bit. What if we anchor the boat off shore, and take the rubber life raft in to the rocks over there? Or let the boat drift off? We don't want anyone to know where this boat came in, and they are going to be looking for it."

"You're brilliant," Kenny said softly, kissing her forehead, "You want to blow this one up too?"

Max shot him a mock glare, "No. I don't like to blow things up."

"Yeah, well it beats being shot in the head," Kenny countered, as he steered their boat away from the small harbor and around the bend, "How about this?"

Max nodded, as they loaded their meager supplies into life raft, "Why don't we get this over with?"

--

"Chili?" Skeeter asked, "We don't have any jurisdiction down there, and there is a good chance that they are both dead."

"I'm not believing that yet," Jimmy snapped, "If Max didn't die in the explosion here, I refuse to believe that she died in one in South America."

"At least eight people died either on the island or on the boat. The chance of Max not being one of them, well it's slim, Jimmy."

"Do you want to call the airlines, or should I?"

--

"We're leaving in two hours," Kenny confirmed, as he met Max on the street corner across the street, "I told the travel agent that it was our honeymoon, Cahli."

She shot him a mock glare, and handed him the shopping bag, "I bought you some clean clothes, Tobias."

"You could use a shower, Cahli," he said, stressing her alias, "The best part of this cruise is that it docks in Miami."

"And how long does that take?"

"Two weeks."

"Somehow I don't think we have that long."

"We'll take it one day, hell, one hour at a time," Kenny said quietly, "I promise you that we're both going home."

"I believe you," Max said, as she found it difficult to turn away from his blue gaze, "Do you think we should clean up before we get on this ship?"

"Come on. I saw a public bathroom around the corner."

--

"Jimmy, this is insane," Skeeter said, "We need to let the F.B.I. handle this."

"You mean Morell?" Jimmy asked, "What do you bet he was on that boat?"

"He could have been tailing Kenny."

"Read this."

--

"You look beautiful, Cahli," Kenny said, wrapping his arm around her shoulder.

"Hmm. It just feels good to be clean," Max replied, as they made their way up the gangway, "I can't believe that we're doing this."

They followed the room steward down the hallway, and collapsed onto the bed after he left. Max looked around cabin, before turning to look back at Kenny lying beside her.

"What?" he asked, as his fatigue hit him.

She smiled sleepily, "Thank you for rescuing me."

"You would have figured it out on your own."

Max shook her head, and struggled to stay awake, "Only you would have done this. Thank you."

Kenny pulled her closer to him, and studied her thoughtfully, "Max?"

"Hmm?" she mumbled, as he tilted his head down to hers, "Kenny?"

He pressed his lips to hers, in the mere whisper of a kiss. Max cracked her eyes open at the contact, and brought her hands up to his chest.

Not feeling her resist, Kenny deepened the kiss, and pulled Max closer to him. He slipped his tongue into her mouth, and marveled at the softness of her skin.

Max groaned, and wrapped her arms around his neck, and lost herself as she felt Kenny's hands trail down her body and trace the outline of her breasts. Tilting her head back, she explored his mouth with hers, and ran her fingers up his chest.

"Max," he gasped, a bit shocked at the turn of events, "Max."

"Kenny," she whispered, as she felt him grow hard against her.

"Oh! So sorry!" a voice came from behind them, "I bring bags! So sorry!"

"Uh, it's fine," Kenny said, releasing Max and sitting up, "We're, uh, newlyweds, so yeah. Thanks for the bags."

Max sat up too, and straightened out her shirt, "Um."

Kenny reached out and took her hands in his, "What did we just do?"

"I don't know. Well I know, but . . . this situation . . . Kenny. We don't need to complicate this any more than it already is," Max blurted out.

"Well, you are supposed to be my wife," he said.

"Pretend wife."

"So what the hell just happened?"

Max shook her head, "I don't know! One minute we were falling asleep, then the next . . . It felt good."

"It felt fantastic," Kenny argued, "Max, we just went through something huge."

She nodded, "I think there is a lot more to come. Can we . . . put what happened on hold?"

Kenny nodded, "I can live with that. You still want to take that nap?"

--

"Marcus Morell," Skeeter read aloud, "His sister is Carmen Sardelli?"

"He was following Kenny. Why? To find Max and Tom? If Kenny could find them, Tom must have left some sort of trail."

"What if Kenny found something in Tom's apartment everyone else missed?"

"And it led him to Max?"

--

Max opened the briefcase, and pulled out the paper with the numbers running across it, as the ship sailed out to sea, "What do you think this is?"

Kenny sat cross legged on the bed across from her, "I don't know. Some sort of code? Bank account numbers? Speaking of that, how much cash is in that briefcase?"

"A lot. Half a million."

"Tom didn't travel lightly."

Max shot him a dark look, as her stomach growled, "You want to order room service? I'm starving."

Kenny nodded, "Yeah. What do you say we go find a computer too? Find out some more about the Millanis, and see if your code over there does anything for this disk. What do you want to eat?"

Max nodded, as Kenny dialed room service, "Anything. Plus some beer. I have a strong need to get myself drunk."

Kenny smiled to himself, as Max collapsed back on the bed next to him. He finished the order and turned back to her, "You're not the only one. They'll be here in a half an hour. You okay?"

Max sat up, "My parents. I know I never really got along with them, but this has got to be killing them. Tom wanted to just disappear at let everyone think we were dead."

Kenny hesitantly brushed a lock of her hair off of her face, "You had problems with that."

Max nodded, and blurted out the helicopter story, "I should have shut up. He shouldn't have died."

"Max," Kenny said quietly, "You didn't kill him. He set himself up for that long before you even knew him."

"Look at all the bodies," she said, "The four on the boat, the three on the beach . . . who was in my apartment? There were bodies?"

"I don't know."

"How could anyone think that you did this?"

Kenny sighed and filled her in on everything, until she had almost shot him, "You know you only missed me by about three inches."

"Sorry."

"Forget it all for now," Kenny said, as he realized how much he wanted to kiss her again.

"I think our food is here," Max said softly, as Kenny stood.

--

"So what did Kenny find? Plane tickets? Reservations? What?"

"Maybe he left something behind for the people he was working for? The missing information from Varitek?"

"He would have to leave it in some sort of code. What about latitude and longitude?"

--

"Come on," Kenny said, "We'll save the alcohol for later."

Max nodded, as she let him pull her up, "Do you really think that whatever is on that disk will help us out? Wait."

"What?"

Max retrieved the keys from the duffle bag, "I almost forgot. Tom had these on him. One was to the house, one looks like a boat key, one fit the briefcase and the fourth is a safe deposit box key."

"And you're just telling me this now?"

"It's been a long two days."

"Anything else?"

Max paused, "Um, he mentioned something about Swiss bank accounts."

"One thing at time," Kenny replied, "Shit. My turn. Morell was on my plane on the way down here."

"F.B.I. Agent Morell? Here?"

"I lost him Max, but he had to have been looking for you, me, Tom, anyone involved in this."

"One thing at a time, right?" Max asked, as she opened the door, "Maybe we won't have to worry about this for much longer."

Kenny followed her down the hall, and toward the internet café, "Hey, it'll be an adventure we can tell our grandchildren about."

Max smiled, as he wrapped his arms around her shoulders, "I think it might scare them off of ever dating anyone, ever."

"You do know how to pick them," Kenny said, as she leaned in closer to him, "I'll have to consider a cruise when I really go on my honeymoon."

"Mmm," Max agreed, as they came to the café, "It's good way to travel. We're here."

Kenny slid the disk into the computer, "Here we go."

Max pulled up a chair next to him, and pulled the paper of code out of her pocket, "I don't even know what we're expecting to find."

Kenny nodded, as the coded data popped up on the screen, "What do you think?"

"Here," she said, opening the file and typing the code in, "Maybe this will work?"

He leaned over her shoulder, "Max? Why wouldn't he have taken this with him?"

She shrugged, "I don't know who trusted enough to leave it for. Someone in his family, although he said he didn't want anything to do with them."

"Could he have just been saying that?"

"Anything is possible . . . What about Morell? If he was following you, maybe he knew that you already found what he was looking for?"

"There are a lot of what ifs," Kenny replied, as the information reappeared, decoded, "Shit, Ma - Cahli. Look at this."

"I see it Tobias," Max replied, "Um, why don't we print it out?"

"All the people on the boat that exploded were men," Skeeter said, "The bodies were thrown free, and well they were. Three men, who were locals, and an American."

"Kenny?"

"I don't know. I think he and Max escaped together. What happened to the other boat?"

Jimmy stood, "The local authorities in Chili are looking for them, and their pictures are all over the news. Somehow we're going to make contact."

"Do you still want to fly to Chili?"

"We're flying out in two hours."

--

"What next?" Max asked, "We dock in Arica in two days."

"We have to fly there," Kenny replied, as they studied the print out tomorrow, "All that coding for a location? What the hell are we looking for?"

"He had back accounts there," Max said quietly, "So why wouldn't he have a safe deposit box in Switzerland?"

"Zurich," Kenny stated, as he took another swig of his beer, "Jesus. I've done more traveling in the last three days then in my entire life."

Max giggled, as she and Kenny finished off the beer. She fell back against the pillows, and dropped her empty bottle onto the floor.

"You're drunk," Kenny declared, as he fell on the bed beside her and was happy to focus on something else, "Maxine Stewart does not get drunk."

"Yeah? I guess Cahli Vangas does."

"You know, I really like Cahli Vangas."

Max rolled on her side, "You have two heads."

"I wish I had a tape recorder."

Max giggled again, and knew she was losing complete control of herself, "So you like me?"

Kenny pulled her closer to him, "Of course I like you. Go to sleep, Max."

"I'm not Max. I'm Cahli."

Kenny tossed a blanket over her, and flipped the light out, "Come on. Humor me. We've had a long day."

"Will you stay?"

"Hey we're stuck with each other for awhile. Sleep. I'll see you in the morning."

--

Jimmy and Skeeter boarded the plane in Greenbay silently.

"Uh, how is Jill taking this?" Skeeter asked.

"She understands," Jimmy lied, "It's my job. We have to find out what happened to them."

Skeeter nodded, "When we get to Santiago . . . What are we going to do?"

"We have a long flight. We'll figure it out on the way."


	6. Day 6

Day 6

"So this is Chili," Skeeter said, as he and Jimmy rode down to the harbor, "It's somewhere I never thought I'd ever come."

"Neither did I. We're not going to the island Skeeter."

"Isn't it crawling with the local authorities anyway?"

"Yeah. I want to talk to the people who Kenny rented the boat from, and find out where it is, if he ever came back."

--

"Hmm, my head," Max groaned, as she rolled on her side.

"Morning, Cahli," Kenny grumbled from the other side of the bed.

"Tobias."

Kenny rolled on his side, and looked at her bleary eyed, "You up for bingo today? Maybe some shuffleboard?"

"Can't I just sleep all day?"

"Come on, Cahli. We have one day until we have to go to another continent, and it's our honeymoon."

"You're way too into this fake marriage thing."

Kenny smiled at her grumpy expression, and kissed her on her forehead, "One day, and then who knows what?"

Max couldn't help but smile back at him, "What do you want to do?"

A million scenarios that didn't involve leaving the bed raced through his mind, but he somehow thought that Max wouldn't go for it, "I think we better be prepared. Probably pack up what we need to take with us, just in case we have to get away quickly, and then . . . I heard there are some hot tubs up on the deck."

--

"They found the boat anchored in Punta Arenas," the harbor master said, "It's up the coast some ways."

"What is in Punta Arenas?" Jimmy asked.

"It's a big cruise ship port. There is a lot to see and do. Some penguin tours."

"How would someone go about booking a cruise out of there? Where can I get a list of all the ships that sailed out yesterday?"

"The tourism office is back," he replied, with a jerk of his thumb, "Who are you looking for?"

"A friend," Jimmy said, as he slid a photograph out of his pocket, "Is this the man who chartered the boat?"

"That be him. You know him? You weren't the only person to come looking for him."

"Did he?" Jimmy asked, extracting a picture of Morell.

"Yeah. I lost two of my charter boats because as these assholes."

"Thanks for your help. How would we get to Punta Arenas?"

"It's a three-hour drive up the coast."

"Thanks."

"Uh Jimmy?" Skeeter asked, as they made their way to the building, "What are you thinking?"

"I'm not sure," Jimmy replied, "I'm thinking that Kenny and Max made it to Punta Arenas, then needed a way to get out of the country. Whether it be by sea, land or air."

--

Max smiled, as Kenny handed her a beer. Stretching out on the deck chair, she relished in the brief time that they had to relax.

"Thanks," she said, as he sat in the chair next to her, "This could be perfect if . . ."

"Yeah, if. When we the last time either of us took a vacation?"

"I don't remember."

Kenny let his gaze travel down her bikini clad body, and groaned internally at how his body was reacting to it. This is Max, he thought, Max. You two are running from the mob, police, and anyone else who will chase you. Don't start thinking of her that way. She is your fake wife. Not real.

"Kenny?"

"Yeah?"

She sat up slightly, "Uh, is something wrong? Besides the obvious? You're kind of staring at me."

"Well you're a beautiful woman, Cahli," he said, trying to sound casual, "And that bikini doesn't leave much to the imagination."

Max bit her tongue to keep from smiling, "And you are a sweet husband to say that."

"I think you're the only person to ever call me sweet."

"I wish every guy I dated was half the man that you are. Whatever happens in the next few days . . . I don't even know what to say. Thank you."

"We're going to be okay," Kenny promised, as he scooted onto her chair, and took her hands in his, "Everyone who was chasing us, well you know."

"They'll send more."

"We're going to stay one step ahead of them. Maybe two," he said quietly, as he brushed her hair back off of her face, "We made it this far."

She nodded, "I wouldn't have if it wasn't for you."

Kenny tilted his head in, so that their foreheads touched, "Glad I could be of service."

Max swallowed at his closeness, "Do you want to go back to the room?"

--

"Only one ship sailed out from there yesterday. The Rembrandt, and it is bound for Arica."

"When will it get there?" Skeeter asked.

"Tomorrow. It docks at," she trailed off, "At six A.M."

"How soon can we get there?" Jimmy asked.

"Well, we have a small plane that is taking a tour there. It leaves at three this afternoon. It should get you there by eight tonight, then you can meet your friends."

"Is there any way to see who booked a last minute cruise?" Skeeter asked, "We just want to make sure that we have the right boat."

"Well I'm not supposed to," she trailed off, "What are the names?"

"We're not sure," Skeeter said.

The woman frowned, "Oh?"

"Could you just give us a list of everyone who booked a cruise yesterday," Jimmy said, as he flashed his badge, "We are American police, and these people are suspects."

She typed some information into the computer, and nodded thoughtfully, "There were five last minute bookings. A Juan and Maria Ramirez, Carl and Natalie Linbrook, Samson and Julia Hook, Tobias and Cahli Vangas, and Francisco and Theresa Cabrera."

"Thank you. Could we get the tickets to Arica now?" Jimmy asked, praying that one of the couples was Kenny and Max.

--

Kenny kept one arm wrapped around Max's shoulders, as they walked stealthily toward their room. Rounding the corner, he froze as he saw the television screen in the sports bar.

"Cahli," he whispered, "Look."

She glanced up, and wondered what caused him to come to a dead halt, "Shit."

Kenny looked at their images staring back at them from the screen, and could make out the word suspects, mob, and murder, before turning back to Max, "We better get back to the room, and stay there."

"Think maybe we could find this on the T.V. back there?"

"We better," he said, as they made the way back to their room in silence.

Max flipped on the television, and sunk down onto the mattress, "Now what?"

"Well your hair is a lot shorter in that picture," Kenny said nodding.

"So is yours. When were those taken? When we both joined the department? That was what? Five years ago?"

Kenny fingered her hair, "Well this color is distinctive. There were some wigs in those shops."

"What about you? You want to grow a beard, or shave your head?"

"We're not going to panic. We don't dock until tomorrow. Until then, we're gonna lie low."

"They're not saying anything we don't know already."

Kenny pulled her into his arms, and felt his heart break at her trembling, "We probably know more. We know where Tom's safety deposit box is. We just have to get there, Cahli."

Max looked up at him, "Why do I feel like I'm never going to be Max again? Even if we find what we need to clear you, and get the real killers locked up. We know how the mob works, and they're not going to let us walk away. I'd also say that our careers are most likely ruined."

"So what do you want to do? Just run away?"

"Tom wanted to do that. Let everyone think we were dead. I couldn't."

"What about now?"

"Could you?"

"If it's a choice between that or being killed, then yeah. We have some cash, id, and once we put these bastards away . . . We don't have to worry about it yet."

Max looked up at him seriously, "If you could pick one place to go where this is all over, where would it be?"

"Someplace warm, a place that we can have a house and plenty of open space. Maybe grow our own vegetables or something, and just be happy, safe. What about you?"

She leaned her head on his shoulder, as the news story changed, "I'm kind of opposed to the island thing, but maybe Italy or France. What about buying a vineyard, and making our own wine?"

Kenny stroked her hair, "We could have a good life together once this is done."

"Isn't this the complication we wanted to avoid?"

"I thought I lost you. I don't ever want to lose you."

Max lifted her head, "Kenny."

"We're not them anymore, remember?"

--

"I'm going to be sick," Skeeter groaned, as he and Jimmy stumbled through the Arica airport terminal, "Why do people even make planes that small?"

"For trips like that," Jimmy countered, as he looked at his watch, "The ship docks in 10 hours."

"We can't do anything until then."

"Yeah we can. We're going to find out as much information as we can about the Ramierezes, Linbrooks, Vangas', Hooks and Cabreras. Then we're going to make sure the Arica police are there to pick them up, so we can get to the bottom of this. They owe us an explanation."

--

Max swallowed, and wanted nothing more then to lose herself in the moment with Kenny. After all, she thought, this may be the last time I have sex before I'm killed. And it's Kenny, or Tobias if we're forgetting about our lives from now on.

"What's that?" she asked, as another image came back on the screen, "Is that you? And Franco Millani?"

"Max. It's not real," Kenny insisted, as she pulled out of his arms, "Those are the same pictures that Jimmy had. They're doctored! I don't know any mobsters. You know that!"

"I know that," she agreed, "It was just a shock to see it. I trust you."

"You're the only person I trust anymore," Kenny said, "Who do you think doctored those photos? Tom?"

Max shook her head, "No. He could hardly work a camera. What about Morell? He had all the lab equipment back at his office?"

"Okay, going with that theory . . . Why?"

"Well considering we, I, blew him up, we'll have to wait."

"I can't find anything on Cahli and Tobias Vangas," Skeeter said, "Do we know for sure that they are American?"

"No. The Ramirezes and Cabreras are from Chili, and the Hooks are American and the Linbrooks are English. Vangas? It could be anything."

"Cahli sounds Spanish. I'll start there."

"We need to do some stuff before we get into port," Kenny said, as he glanced at the clock.

"Like getting me a wig? What about hitting the computer again, and trying to find out anything else the we can about this."

"Why don't we make flight reservations to Zurich for tomorrow? And possibly some place else, just to throw people off track, if they are looking for us?"

"Then get off this boat as soon as we can."

"You want to split up?"

"Not really, but it'll get everything done faster," Max said, as she twisted her hair back in a bun, and pulled on Kenny's Chicago Cubs hat, "I'll run to the boutiques, and then meet you at the computers. Maybe I can find you a wig too."

"How about a beard? I heard they have costumers on board for some big party that they're throwing. Did I say you could borrow my hat?"

"I'll do my best, and I thought it might hide my distinctive hair color."

Kenny smiled at her, and snagged a bandana out of the duffle bag, "I guess this will do for me. Half an hour?"

--

"Nothing," Skeeter said, pushing back from the terminal, "As far as anyone knows, there is no one name Tobias and Cahli Vangas. Not a married couple, siblings, nothing. It's like they appeared out of thin air."

"That is an awfully big coincidence," Jimmy said, as they made their way out of the closing internet café, "It has to be them."

Skeeter nodded, "If we sick the police on them they're going to be thrown in jail down here, Jimmy. You know the mob is still looking for them, they have to be."

"So what do you suggest?"

"I say we wait for them to get off of the boat, and sort this out. It would be a lot easier and quieter then going through all of this red tape. Do you really want to waste time dealing with the Chilean police?"

Jimmy gritted his teeth, "There are over 3,000 people on this ship."

"And who knows Kenny and Max better than you do?"

--

"Hello Tobias," a voice said, wrapping her arms around his neck, "Did you miss me?"

Kenny smiled before turning around, "Could that be my Cahli? Whoa. Look at you."

Max smiled back at him, and turned around to show him the full view of her new look, "Well?"

Kenny took in the long dark wig, glasses, lip ring, "Did your breasts get bigger too?"

"Leave it to you to notice that," Max scoffed, "I bought, or rented, a few more wigs, and you some facial hair. This costume party is big here."

"I wouldn't have recognized you."

"What did you find out?" Max asked, as she tossed him back his hat.

"The news that we saw gave us a lot of what I read here, except for the theory that you were Tom's mole in the department."

"Great. Now I'm not just dead, but a criminal too."

"Join the club."

"Anything else?"

"I booked us a flight tomorrow. It leaves at eleven. Who knows? Maybe we'll have our answers by tomorrow."

Max smiled, as Kenny stood, "I hope so."

"So what did you get me?"

--

"Okay," Jimmy agreed, "We'll do it that way. They can't help us if they're locked up. I want to be down on that pier before that ship even pulls in."

"Sounds like a plan," Skeeter said with a yawn, "It gets here in six hours. How about we get some sleep first?"

--

Max giggled, as she looked at Kenny in the blond wig and beard, "Oh my God."

"What are you laughing at?" he asked, as he pulled her over toward the mirror, "We look ridiculous, but I like the bigger breasts."

"Well I have to say that we do look completely different than we did a few hours ago."

"Cahli," Kenny said carefully, not wanting to put any pressure on her.

"Tobias," Max replied, "That's who we are."

"Not the two deputy partners anymore."

"What are we then?"

Kenny pulled her in closer, "We can be whoever we want to be."

Max stood up on her toes, and pressed her lips to his softly, "You have no idea how much I want to do this, Tobias."

"But?"

"We still have a lot of road to travel, and," Max paused, thinking how she never wanted him to let go of her, "I don't want to hate each for the rest of it."

"Understandable," Kenny replied, not releasing, "I'm not going to force you."

Max wrapped her arms around him, and hugged him close, "You're the best person that I have ever known."

Kenny relished the feel of Max in arms, "You're an amazing woman. There isn't anyone I would rather be running from the mob from."

Max let out a genuine laugh, and pulled back from him a bit, "We better get to bed. It's going to be an early day."


	7. Day 7

Day 7

"I can't remember the last time I was up this early," Skeeter groaned, as he and Jimmy watched the Rembrandt dock, "The sun isn't even up yet, and damn that it is a big ship."

"They could blend in that way. Who would notice two people in a crowd of 3,000? Even if their pictures are plastered all over the T.V."

"People on vacation tend to forget about the real world."

Jimmy let out a long sigh, "I hope they have a damn good explanation for this."

"If they're even here."

--

"You ready?" Kenny asked, as he watched Max run a brush through her long dark wig.

She turned to look at him, "As ready as I'll ever be. How about you?"

Kenny hefted the backpack with the money, evidence, and some clean clothes over his shoulder, "Yeah. I hate to be leaving our accommodations here, but . . ."

Max slid the glasses on, and grabbed her purse, "I actually feel safe on this boat."

Kenny ran his hand across her cheek, "You want to get going?"

"I think we better."

--

"Look at all of these," Jimmy said, as he watched them stream through the gate, "The sun is barely up, and they're going sightseeing."

"I'm sure there is a great deal to do in Arica," Skeeter countered, not tearing his gaze away from the crowd, "Maybe they'll be late risers?"

"They're not on a pleasure cruise."

"What if they recognize us?"

"We're here to help them, and they're both smart enough to realize that."

--

Kenny wrapped one are around Max's shoulders, as they made their way down the gangway, "Smile, Cahli."

"It's too early Toby," she countered, as she relaxed some when he touched her.

He squeezed her a little, "Did I keep you up too late?"

"Yeah, your snoring did."

"You're brutal," Kenny said, glad to see her smile, "Those glasses are incredibly sexy by the way."

She tossed her hair back, "You don't look half bad as a blond."

Kenny groaned internally, and wondered what the hell they were doing. Whatever is going on between us has to take a backseat for a while. At least until we figure out the rest of this, "We better cool it. We don't want to draw attention to ourselves. Right?"

"Right," Max agreed, as she turned her attention back to the exit, "Um, do you see that?"

"See what?"

"Over to the left. Do they look familiar to you?"

"Keep walking," Kenny instructed, as he felt his heart drop into his stomach.

"They're going to recognize us!"

"Ssh. Look at me, Cahli. I wouldn't know you if you walked by me on the street right now. What do you want to do? Just get back on the ship, and hide out? They have to know we're here."

Max bit her tongue, as she glanced around the harbor, "Well we got really good at swimming places."

"Jimmy and Skeeter," Kenny said aloud, "They wouldn't have come alone. The Chilean police have to be here somewhere."

Max shook her head, "They wouldn't have let anyone off of the ship. It would have been easier to keep everyone on, and find us that way."

"Either way, we have to get out of here now, and on that plane."

"So we're going to walk, and don't stop," Max said, "No matter what anyone says or does, we move."

"If something happens, one of us has to get on that plane. You want to shake on that?"

"I trust you. Come on."

--

"There," Skeeter said, as he gestured to the couple on the pier, "It has to be."

Jimmy nodded, "Duck back, we want to surprise them."

"Shit, this is it. They look a lot closer than they did a week ago."

Jimmy gazed at the canoodling couple, "I wonder."

"Go, walk," Kenny hissed, as the passed through the gate.

"What do you think I'm doing?" Max retorted, as they made a beeline for the cabs, "Don't look at them."

"Faster."

"You want to draw attention to ourselves?"

"Kenny! Max! Wait! Freeze!"

"Go, go, go," Kenny said, as he grabbed her hand.

Max gritted her teeth, and glared at him silently. They wove their way between the cars, and ignored the voices behind them.

"Kenny Lacos! Maxine Stewart! You're wanted in the questioning of the deaths in Punta Arenas, and in Rome, Wisconsin! Freeze!"

"Get down!" Kenny yelled, as a gunshot rang out.

Max dove for the ground, and felt Kenny land beside her. Hearing the screams and the chaos around them, "Oh shit!"

Kenny held her down, as he peered around the car, "Come on. Now!"

"They're shooting at us!"

"Not us," Kenny said, as he watched Jimmy run over to the couple lying on the ground, "Look."

"They thought," Max trailed off, as she felt sick, "They had to think that . . ."

"I know."

"We should go back."

"And do what?"

"Innocent people are dying!"

"Yeah, you want to be one of them?"

"How can you even think like this?"

"They're going to figure out that we didn't get shot about now, and do you really want to give them that chance? Come on, Cahli!"

Max looked at the chaos erupting behind them before turning back to Kenny, "Okay. We can't help them now."

--

"What the hell was that!" Jimmy yelled, as the couple they identified as Kenny and Max fell to the ground, "No one followed us here!"

"Well we found them," Skeeter yelled back, as they ran toward the bodies, "So maybe the Millanis did too."

"Shit," Jimmy said, as they came upon the bodies, "It isn't them."

--

"You're still shaking," Kenny said, as he awkwardly laid a hand on her shoulder.

Max glanced up at him, and let out a long sigh, "Those people had nothing to do with this."

"It could have just been a random shooting."

Max just looked at him like he grew two heads, "I stopped believing in coincidences about a week ago. Plus, with Jimmy and Skeeter here . . ."

"You don't think that they're somehow involved with this?"

"I don't want to. They could have figured it out. If someone found the boat, and talked to the booking agent."

"Yeah? How would they know to look for Tobias and Cahli?"

"I don't know! Somehow they found us!"

"And we're leaving in about 20 minutes. We'll be halfway across the ocean before they even get off of the pier."

"How can you be so calm about this?"

"One of us has to be."

Max glared at him for a brief instance, "Maybe it would be easier to just go home, and work all of this out."

"How? We'll both be in jail, and then we'll be dead."

"You do have a way with words," Max said, as she leaned back against the chair.

--

"It wasn't them," Jimmy said, as he and Skeeter settled in the cruise ship terminal and watched the passengers walk back and forth.

"It doesn't mean that they're not here."

"Or it does. Maybe these Vangas' are just two people on a cruise."

"I am Captain Morales," a man said approaching them, "You are the American police?"

"Yes," Jimmy said, as he rose to his feet, "Thank you for taking the time to speak to us."

--

"You still mad at me?" Kenny asked, as they leaned back in their seats.

"I'm not mad at you," Max replied, as she turned her head to look at him, "Do you ever wonder how one choice changes your life forever? None of this would have happened if I had never met Tom, or if I said no when he asked me out."

"We can't control the world. This isn't your fault."

"Yeah? You don't blame me for your entire life being destroyed?"

"Hey, Cahli. You didn't know. Tom needed someone to take the blame, and why not me? I never liked the guy anyway."

"You never liked anyone I dated, Toby," Max replied, as she glanced out the window at the ocean below them, "I'm sorry either way."

"We're not landing for 10 hours. You're not going to apologize to me for all them, are you?"

"No."

"Well you're direct. We land at three in the afternoon, Zurich time. What do you want to do when we get there?"

"I'm voting for finding the bank."

"Okay. After that?"

"It depends on what we find. Whatever Tom left there, it has to be big. I wish I knew who was doing the shooting back there. The person he left the disk for?"

"I thought he left it for Morell? And he's dead."

"The rest of the Millani family? Anyone could have followed Jimmy and Skeeter."

"We'll just have to watch our backs."

--

"That is quite a story," Captain Morales said, "You're sure that your friends are on this ship?"

"It's the best lead we have so far," Jimmy said.

"You think they're traveling under the aliases Tobias and Cahli Vangas?"

"We didn't find any existence of them before they booked this cruise."

Morales nodded, "I spoke to the captain, and this ship is not leaving tonight. My men are going to search it, and see what we can find out about these Vangas'."

--

"Are we there yet?" Max mumbled, as she opened her eyes.

"Not yet," Kenny replied, as he brushed her hair out of her eyes, "A few more hours."

"Have you slept?"

"No. I'm glad that you did," Kenny replied, kissing the top of her head, "Hey, Cahli?"

"Hmm?"

"Do you really want to go home when this is done? I'll go if it's what you want."

"I don't want you to go to prison, or be killed. I might be on my way too, for that boat thing."

"They were going to kill us."

"There are so many bodies."

"You never answered my question."

Max regarded him carefully before replying, "We can't go back. I know that. I'm not the same person I was a week ago. In the past seven days I've been dead, kidnaped, shot at, rescued, blew up a boat, took on a new identity, ran for my life, been in at least two new countries, and whatever is going on with us . . . I'm not sure who I am now."

"You're amazing," Kenny said softly, "And you're still here fighting. Whatever your name is now."

"I'm warming up to Cahli."

Kenny leaned his head in closer, "I really like Cahli."

"I'm fond of Toby myself."

"We're still us. No matter what our names out, where we go, or what we do."

"I know that."

"What is going on with us?"

Max pulled away slightly, "A lot. That we were supposed to table until later."

Kenny whispered in her ear, "I want to lick you all over, right here and now."

Max reached out and took his hand in his, "Well I think most of these people are asleep."

He smiled at her, as he kissed her softly. Feeling her quiver in his arms, he pulled her in tighter, "I want you so much."

"I want to feel your hands on me," Max whispered hoarsely, as she traced the back of them with her fingers, "I want you inside of me."

"Jesus Christ," Kenny groaned, as he kissed her again, "You do things to me . . . No one makes me feel like you do."

"We can't do this here," Max protested weakly, as he kissed her neck, "Oh . . ."

"No we can't," Kenny agreed, as he pulled back slightly, "We're landing soon."

--

Jimmy and Skeeter wandered in what they thought to be Kenny and Max's room, while Morales and his men spoke to the room steward.

"It's pretty empty," Skeeter said, as he peered into the closet, "They travel lightly, or they got out of here."

"There is nothing here," Jimmy said, "A few changes of clothes, nowhere near enough for a two week cruise. No identification, just a few toiletries left behind."

"This is the room steward, Pepe," Morales said rejoining them.

"Are these the people that were staying here?" Jimmy asked, as he held out the photograph of Kenny and Max.

"Yes," Pepe said, with a nod, "That is who stayed in this room. Nice people. Stayed in the room a lot. Honeymooners. Very sweet."

"Tobias and Cahli Vangas," Skeeter stated, "Those were their names?"

"Yes. Nice couple from the States. Why are you looking for them?"

"We need to talk to them," Jimmy said vaguely, "Do you know if they got off the ship this morning?"

"Yes. Early. I made up their room first."

"Do you know where they were going?"

Pepe shrugged, "Sightseeing? They didn't say. They weren't the people shot on the pier?"

"No," Jimmy stressed, "They weren't."

--

"Switzerland," Kenny said, as he and Max stood on the curb outside the Zurich airport, "Wow."

"I think we need some warmer clothes," Max said, as she looked up at the sun, "And a shower."

Kenny rubbed her arms, as he tried to warm her up, "Better?"

"Hmm," Max agreed, as a cab pulled up, "Where to?"

--

"Are there any leads on who the shooter was?" Jimmy asked, as they made their way down the gangway.

"We have much turmoil in our country," Morales said, "From what you told me though, there is a price on your friend's head?"

"We identified the couple on the pier as them, and a minute later they were dead," Jimmy said, "I'd say that it was intentional."

"It is highly suspect. We do have a high drug trade on these piers that is tied into the mob," Morales replied, "The Millanis, I've heard of them."

"They're known for drug trafficking," Jimmy said, "And for insider trading."

"We monitor the activities of known mobsters. I will check and see if they've been in lately."

--

"The bank closed a half hour ago," Max sighed, as they looked at the dark building, "I guess we'll have to wait."

"At least we know where it is," Kenny countered, as he wrapped his arm around her shoulders, "We can come back first thing in the morning."

Max nodded, and leaned back into his embrace, "It's probably a good thing. I know I don't smell my best right now, and I feel underdressed to go in there."

"You're beautiful."

"Thanks."

"Come on," Kenny prodded, as they walked back down the street, "We need to go find a hotel."

--

"No known mobsters have entered the country in the last six weeks," Morales said, "Interestingly enough though, Cahli and Tobias Vangas have not returned to the ship. The crew is checking for them, and it was set to sail a half an hour ago."

"Has anyone checked the airlines, bus stations, train stations?" Jimmy asked, "They could be half way across the world by now."

"We're working on it," Morales said, as another man knocked on the door, "Yes?"

"The Vangas' booked several flights out of Arica today, to a variety of locations."

"Where?" Jimmy asked.

"New York, Zurich, Chicago, Prague, Paris, and Fiji."

"Tom has real estate in New York," Skeeter said, "And possibly some left behind clues to this."

"The FBI have been all over his properties," Jimmy countered, "But they might have some information that no one else has."

"I guess we're going to New York."

--

"We're going to spend all of Tom's money soon enough," Max said, as she collapsed onto the king sized bed and Kenny tossed the shopping bag at her.

"We still have plenty," Kenny countered, as he joined her on the bed, "So."

Max smiled, "So?"

Kenny pulled the wig off of her head, and combed his fingers through her matted hair, "We have hours before we have to be at the bank."

Max carefully peeled away his beard, "I'm aware of that."

"We shouldn't do this."

"We shouldn't have done most of what we've done lately," Max countered, as she stood up slowly. Smiling seductively at him, she slowly unbuttoned her shirt and let it fall to the ground. Watching his eyes widen at her sudden boldness, she dropped her pants as well.

"Jesus Christ."

Max walked slowly toward him, and straddled him as he sat on the bed speechless.

"You're a goddess," Kenny groaned, as he took in her toned body in the white lace panties and bra, "A fucking goddess."

"And you're wonderful," Max whispered, as she helped in pulling his shirt off, "Hmm, touch me."

They fell back on the bed together, as Kenny kicked his pants off. Kenny rolled on top of her, and let his lips trail down her torso, "I've waited so long for this . . . Cahli."

"Wait," Max whimpered, as their eyes locked, "If we're going to do this . . . we're going to be ourselves. Max and Kenny. One last time, before this is all over."

Kenny nodded, as he drank in her beautiful face, "Okay. I may like Cahli, but I love Max."

Max froze, as she stared at him silence. What did he just say, she thought, did Kenny just tell me that he loves me?

Kenny just stared back her, and couldn't believe what he just said so easily. I meant it too, he thought, I'm in love with this woman.

"What did you just say?" Max whispered, as she felt her heart pound in her chest, "Kenny?"

"I love you," he repeated, as he sat up and pulled her with him, "Don't cry."

"I'm not," Max replied, and she vowed not to, "Kenny . . . Do you even know what you're saying?"

"Of course I do," he countered, as he brushed her hair back.

"We're been through so much," Max trailed off, as she tried to fight off the overwhelming emotions overtaking her, "I . . . Why are you doing this?"

"Doing what? I'm in love with you! There I said it!"

Max fell silent at that, and just looked at him for a moment, "Are you insane? Why are you telling me this now?"

"Because I just figured it out now! Come on, Max! Look at us!"

She stood quickly, and pulled her shirt on, "I can't deal with this now. I need to go for a walk."

"You're not going anywhere alone," Kenny countered, as he pulled his pants back on, "There are a lot of people out there that want to hurt you!"

"I want to be alone," Max said, as she pulled on her sweat pants, "I can't even think straight right now. I'll be fine."

"Max. Forget about what I just said, and listen for a second. People are looking for both of us, and we're so close. We can't afford to blow it now. Sorry I freaked you out, okay? You want to forget, we can forget it."

Max felt some of the fight go out of her, as she looked over at her best friend, "Kenny . . ."

"I know."

"No, you don't," she countered, as she sat back down on the bed, "Whatever is going on between us is a lot more complicated than it should be. Hell, look at the situation that we're in! That compounds things, a lot."

"Does it?" he asked, joining her again, "Look at me, Max."

She swallowed, as she did what he asked, "I need time."

"That's the one thing we don't have anymore."

--

"Those are the places they flew to," Skeeter said, as he watched Jimmy buy the plane tickets, "Tom had some Swiss accounts, so my money is on that. The sheriff and I are going to New York, and that'll keep him occupied for a while."

"Thanks for the information," Giorgio said, "We'll get right on that."

"Anytime," Skeeter replied, as Jimmy rejoined him, "I'll see you when I get home. Bye."

"Who was that?" Jimmy asked, as he handed him a ticket.

"My wife," Skeeter said, "I just wanted to check in."


	8. Today

Today

Kenny shot Max furtive glances, as she ran the brush through her hair. It should have worked out differently last night, he thought, why did I go and tell her I loved her?

Max felt Kenny's gaze on her, and she tried to have some sort of control over the overwhelming emotions churning inside of her. Kenny loves me, she thought, it has to be some sort of reaction to the last few days. It has to be. What if it isn't? Oh, God. I love him too.

"Kenny?" Max asked hesitantly, not wanting to fight before the trip to the bank, "Um, about last night."

"Hey, forget about it. I shouldn't have . . . We have a lot to do today."

Max crossed the room to him, and Kenny felt his heart leap into his throat when he looked at her clad in a knee length gray skirt and red shirt. I want her, he thought, more then anything else. If we didn't have to save ourselves from the mob . . . she doesn't want me though. Not like that. She made that perfectly clear.

"I don't want to forget it," Max said quietly, as she looked up at him, "Did you mean it?"

"Max."

"Tell me," she said softly, "We've been through so much in the past few days, it's not . . . do you?"

"Why?"

"I'm not good at this," Max said quietly, "When you told me to stop dating assholes, well you hit that nail on the head. I don't want to make the same mistakes. I suck at dating."

"We're way beyond dating."

Max regarded him carefully, before wrapping her arms around his neck, "I know. And I love you too."

--

"Michael Millani has an office here," Sargent Henderson said, "And the Millani family cleaned out Tom Millani's apartment, after they heard about his first death."

"So you have nothing on this man?" Jimmy asked.

"He didn't die in our jurisdiction. Or yours."

--

"Max," Kenny said, after a long moment, as he gazed down at the woman in his arms, "You and me . . . Yes. I'm so in love with that I can't see straight sometimes. It's why I couldn't believe that you were dead."

Max smiled, as she stood up on his toes and kissed him, "Oh, Kenny. Are we really doing this? On top of everything else?"

"One day at a time. Right?"

"Right," Max sighed, wanting nothing more than to fall back on the bed with him, "We better get going. The bank opens in half an hour."

--

"Let's go see Michael Millani," Jimmy said, feeling frustrated.

"He's the Don, Jimmy," Skeeter said, "I doubt he has time for us. They destroyed anything that would incriminate them."

"We don't know that," Jimmy argued, "Where would Tom store something, that no one else could get to? A safe deposit box? He would have to have it paid for, so it the information inside wouldn't be released after he died."

"There are hundreds of banks in this city," Skeeter countered, wanting a reprieve from this investigating to go report to Franco and Giorgio, "We need to go home, Jimmy. In case Kenny and Max make contact."

--

"Good luck," Kenny said, "If anything goes wrong."

"You get the hell out of here," Max cut him off, "One of us has to."

"Same to you," Kenny said, as he squeezed her hand in his, "Max?"

"Kenny."

He kissed her quickly, "Hurry back."

Max smiled, and merely nodded as she pushed the door open. Not looking back, she made her way inside the Swiss National Bank, and prayed that she could find out what they needed to know. Taking a deep breath, she approached the teller.

"Good morning," Max said, as she held up her safe deposit box key, "I need to get into my box, please."

"Of course. What number please?"

"Four-seven-six-three," Max said, as she tried to control her racing heart, as the teller removed the key from behind the desk.

"This way," the teller replied, leading Max toward the back of the bank, "You just need to sign in here, Mam."

Max made her hand stay steady, as she signed in illegibly, "Thank you."

"Your key please?" the teller asked, as she removed the box from the wall and inserted them both, "There you are. Let me know if I can be of anymore help."

"I will," Max said quietly, as she lifted the lid. Thumbing through the stack of papers in front of her, she skimmed the top page quickly, "Oh, wow."

Picking up the envelope, she sucked in an involuntary breath at the images staring back at her. Sliding everything in her oversized purse, Max shut the box, and walked nonchalantly back into the lobby.

--

"Shit, Max. Where are you?" Kenny said aloud, as he slumped down in the car, "Come on."

Watching as Franco Millani and two other men emerged from the car across the lot, he turned his gaze to the front door of the bank. Don't come out yet, Max, hide. Hell, I'm not leaving her here, forget what we said. She doesn't even look like herself with that blond wig and glasses. They can't recognize her. They just can't. Releasing the brakes in preparation, he trained his gaze back on the three men.

--

Max stepped out onto the front steps of the back, just as shots erupted in the air around her. Spinning on her heel, she threw herself to the ground on instinct.

"Stay down!" the bank guard yelled, as he fired back at Franco, "Mam!"

Max dared to glance up, as the guard fell to ground. Crawling onto her knees, she grabbed the guard's gun, as she heard an engine gun and car shoot forward.

"Get in!" Kenny yelled through the window, as Franco tried to dive out of the way of the speeding car. Max watched in horror, as he rolled off of the hood, "Max!"

Max sprung to her feet, and dove in the car, "What the hell is going on!"

Kenny slammed his foot onto the accelerator, as they sped out of the parking lot, "Put your seatbelt on."

Max dared to look behind her, as she strapped herself in, "They're following us!"

"Not shit!" Kenny yelled back, as their back windshield shattered, "Keep your head down!"

Max stifled a scream, as another bullet whizzed through the car. Taking a deep breath, she leveled the guard's gun in her shaky hand.

"What the hell are you doing?" Kenny asked, feeling incredibly protective of her, "Max! Stay down!"

"Shut up!" she snapped, as she aimed for the other vehicle's tire, "Drive!"

"You're insane!"

"I know that!"

Max steadied herself once more, and fired.

--

Jimmy let out a long and frustrated sigh, "You're right. We're not going to find anything here. I thought Kenny and Max would be here. It was the only place on that list that Tom had property in. They never came through U.S. immigration."

Skeeter gritted his teeth, "They're not criminals, Jimmy. When they're ready, they'll come back. Hopefully with what they are looking for."

"Yeah," Jimmy agreed, "I'd like to go over some of the stuff we pulled from Tom's apartment, got back to Varitek, and see who the hell was blown up at Max's place."

--

"Jesus Christ!" Kenny yelled, as the car exploded behind them, "I thought you were aiming for the tire!"

"I was!"

Kenny eased off of the accelerator a bit, and shot her a quick glance, "Are you okay?"

"Peachy."

"You're a terrible liar, Max."

She nodded, and hugged the purse to her chest, "Yeah. We need to get this stuff to the right people. Whoever they might be."

"How bad is it?"

"Very. The plus side is it clears both of us, but for everybody else involved . . .We're not walking away from this."

"Meaning?"

She just shook her head, "We have to get somewhere safe first, and maybe get rid of this bullet riddled car. When I saw Franco out there . . . how did they know?"

"The same way Jimmy and Skeeter knew we were in Chili," Max trailed off.

"You're not saying that Jimmy is part of this?"

"He's not."

--

Skeeter looked at the sleeping sheriff, with a grim smile on his face. Sorry, Jimmy, he thought, I can't let you find them before I do. I need to know where Tom hid the Varitek development. That dumb prick. He just had to run, and fall for Max. He wouldn't have run if it wasn't for her. The twit fell in love with her, and couldn't deal with it anymore.

He smiled despite the chaos. If they're in Zurich, they won't be alive much longer.

--

Kenny pulled the wrecked car into the parking lot in downtown Zurich, "Talk to me."

Max pushed the door open, and grabbed her purse on the way, "Kenny."

He grabbed the two backpacks, and crossed over to her, "Hey, Max. What is it? If it clears us . . ."

Max pulled out the thin file from Varitek, "This is what Tom stole from them. It's a formula on how to make fake diamonds."

"That's it?"

"No! Apparently they're so finely made that nothing can distinguish them from regular ones, and once they're sold on the market it'll reek havoc on the market. Tom and his partner were going to sell the formula to terrorists, so they could afford weapons of mass destruction."

Kenny skimmed over the file, "How do you know that?"

Max shook her head, "Read this."

"To be opened in case of my death," Kenny read aloud, as he read Tom's last will and testament, "Max . . . Wow."

"He couldn't do it because of me," she whispered, "He wanted the world to be safer for me."

"And his partner didn't like that."

"No. He wanted to get away from his family, and this would have given him enough money to disappear for good."

"It wasn't your fault. If anything, you saved millions of lives by letting him love you."

"His family must have found out," Max said, "Or his partner told them everything, and they're looking for this."

"Morell is dead."

"Morell isn't his partner," Max said, as she pulled out the photographs, "Look familiar?"

Kenny sucked in his breath, "No. Max, this can't be right. They have to be doctored."

"It's Skeeter, and those men look like terrorists to me."

"He had to have known about Tom's accounts here, but couldn't find the key or the box number."

"Tom must have left the disk behind, why? If all the information about this disappeared, it would look suspicious. This way Skeeter could get to it if need be, and everyone would think we were dead."

"What about Morell? He came over with those men, and shot the crew of your boat?"

"He's a piece of the puzzle that doesn't fit yet. Unless he worked for Giorgio and Franco."

"So now what?" Kenny asked.

"We need to get this to Jimmy. All of it."

"We're not going back there. Whatever happened to Franco, for that alone we'd be killed. For this information . . . Max."

"I know," she said softly, feeling her heart break for the people she would never see again.

Kenny pulled her into his arms, "It's okay."

"Is it? You're really fine with never going home again? Never seeing your family? I know how close you are to your parents and sister, Kenny."

"They'll get hurt if we go back. Everyone we care about will!"

"I'm sorry, okay! I'm not perfect! I make mistakes!"

"No shit. I don't know how you get yourself into these situations all of the time."

"What the hell are you talking about? I don't recall ever being in this type of thing before."

"You know what I mean!"

"Go then. Get out of here. I can figure this out myself then."

"You're not getting rid of me that easily. Come on Sweetheart, we can do this."

"Sweetheart? Since when do you call me that?"

"Since . . . I don't know! This whole thing is insane."

"I'm scared."

"We'll be okay. We got what we needed, and we'll get out of this. I won't let anybody hurt you."

"They're coming."

He paused before taking her in his arms. Not saying anything at all, he kissed her softly on the lips.

--

Jimmy walked into the office warily, after the flight back from New York. Ignoring the prying eyes, he shut himself in. Picking up the file on the investigation of the explosion at Max's place. Rubbing his temples, he let out a long sigh, and began to scribble down what he knew.

Tom and Max. Franco, Giorgio, Carmen/Sophia, Morell, Robert, Kenny.

"Welcome back," Littleton said, knocking on the door, "How was it?"

"Not good," Jimmy said flatly, as he filled him in on the incident on the pier, and the plane reservations all over the world, "How about on your end?"

"I guess you haven't seen the news. Franco Millani was hit by a car in front of the Swiss National Bank, after he tried to shoot and unidentified woman this afternoon. The same woman just cleaned out a safe deposit box about 10 minutes before the shooting, and spend out of the parking lot with a man."

"What?" Jimmy asked, "Do we have a picture of this woman?"

Littleton nodded, "It's fuzzy Jimmy, and . . . I don't know. This woman is blond, wearing glasses, and it's only her profile. What do you think?"

Jimmy studied the grainy photograph, "It could be Max. I can't tell. Any word on the bodies in her apartment?"

"Not yet."

--

"Come on," Kenny said, as he heard the sirens and pulled away from her, "They can't see the car back here."

Max nodded, as she followed Kenny inside the train station, "Where to now?"

Kenny kissed her forehead, "Whatever is leaving now. You gonna change?"

"They're looking for the blond from the bank," Max said, taking the backpack, "Five minutes? Right here?"

Kenny nodded, hating the hurt in her eyes, "Max?"

She shook her head, "Later okay?"

Kenny watched her disappear into the ladies room, before turning to study the train schedule. Sighing, he picked the train Barcelona that left in 25 minutes, and handed over the cash.

"Thanks," he mumbled, as he looked for Max and spotted her, "Welcome back."

She nodded, "Where to?"

"Barcelona," Kenny said, "Max?"

"I was so mad at Tom."

"You didn't know."

"I didn't even love him. Not like he did."

Kenny kissed the top of her head, "You made him a better person, Sweetheart. If he loved you as much as his manifesto said he did, he would want you to get through this in one piece. He'd want you to stick it to them."

"And we will," Max said quietly, "We have to get out of here first."

They linked hands silently, as they made their way down to their train.

--

"Franco Millani is dead," Littleton said, "It just came on the news."

"Shit," Jimmy said.

"They guy was a mobster."

"Yeah? If it was Kenny and Max that hit him . . . This isn't good Jon."

--

"So what's the plan?" Kenny asked, "Do you just want to mail this stuff in?"

"We should probably keep a copy," Max said, forcing herself to focus, "Just in case."

"That'll be the first stop in Barcelona," Kenny said, as he held her close on the speeding train, "They must have a Kinkos there."

"Then?"

"Then we have to figure out this disappearing act of ours. Get some new identification because Cahli and Tobias are probably being looked for."

"I just got used to being Cahli."

Kenny smiled at her, "As much as I like Cahli, love Max . . . Whoever you want to be, I'll love you."

"I love you too," Max said quietly, "Who should we be now?"

The End.

Stay with me for the sequel

"Two Years Later"


End file.
